Sporting Post was established in 1994, at a time when general sports betting became first legalised in South Africa. The expectation was for bookmakers (whose core business was horse racing) to embrace general sports betting, and for the sports betting market to balloon. This was not the case: bookmakers took until well into the new millennium to pick up the ball and run with it. Sports betting, and specifically betting on soccer, showed substantial growth only in the lead-up to the 2010 soccer World Cup, held in South Africa.
Sporting Post has since its inception appeared in tabloid newsprint format, twice a week, to cater for weekend and midweek horse racing. Very detailed historical information is provided for all equine competitors at race meetings. General sports betting featured prominently in the printed pages in the early years, notably football, cricket and rugby, but the market’s apparent apathy saw this all but disappear. Equally futile, at the time, were attempts to promote high-risk spread betting as a novel additive to traditional betting methods, notably on golf. Public interest in sports betting was revived much later, in the years leading up to 2010, and is now well established again.
A Sporting Post website was established in 1996, The website design remained virtually unchanged until 2010, when a major overhaul took place.
A further upgrade is a work-in-progress and commenced in December 2021.
The main focus is on horse racing, horse breeding, and general ‘main event’ sports betting – all of which involve high-risk investment with potentially large pay-offs. Sporting Post sees itself as an informative hub for all participants in these activities, from casual to professional.
Staff
Our writers provide interesting, well written and original content on the South African and international horse racing scene. We take pride in providing the best horse racing news and opinion in South Africa and internationally.
Editorial Staff: The editorial Staff at Sporting Post are passionate about horse racing and love sharing their insights and wisdom. Top quality journalism is the name of the game, telling news and opinions in a thought provoking manner.
The team is led by our Editor, Lance Benson.